County fire official accused of questionable behavior

Former cadet: Official, cadets drank before live-fire situations

A whistle blower is promising to expose what he calls a lack of leadership at the Bernalillo County Fire Department.

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County fire official accused of questionable behavior

Former cadet: Official, cadets drank before live-fire situations

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Updated: 11:09 PM MST Dec 6, 2012

SOCORRO, N.M. —

A former cadet is promising to expose what he calls a lack of leadership at the Bernalillo County Fire Department.

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A 22-year-old man captured in cellphone video the fire department chief of operations and training, Jim Dye, drinking with cadets, hours before the group went into live-fire situations in October 2011 in Socorro.

"Inebriation was at the level where they could barely speak and could barely walk," said the man behind the camera.

The man said there was a training exercise with real fire the morning after.

"These cadets were sent into these fires, possibly still intoxicated," the whistle blower said.

The man said he was one of the cadets, and he was also drinking to avoid repercussions.

"What must be understood is that the fire academy is a very intimidating atmosphere," the man said.

The man said aside from the video, he was also hazed and his equipment was tampered with.

"If I went into a fire, and my SBA wasn't hooked up to my pack, we could be dealing with a death situation here. I could've gone into a fire without any air," the man said.

Despite scoring highly on tests and evaluations, the man said he was eventually fired. The former cadet said his problems began when county fire officials found out he tried out for the Albuquerque Fire Department. He said he applied while he was still a probationary employee with the county.

"I want to bring to light the unsafe practices, abuse of power, the obvious lack of leadership that's going on at Bernalillo County Fire Department," the man said.

Bernalillo County officials said they know about the video and the incident is under investigation.

Officials said supervisors and cadets, who are 21 years old, can drink during off-hours, even if they’re out of town for training.